Anas Sarwar to warn SNP MPs 'no seat is safe' and promise Labour will put the country first

The Scottish Labour leader will claim his party can beat the SNP because Humza Yousaf's party no longer puts Scotland first.

Anas Sarwar is set to warn SNP MPs “no seat is safe” after Labour’s historic by-election win in Rutherglen and Hamilton West.

The Scottish Labour leader will use his party conference speech to accuse the Tories and SNP of treating politics as a game, while setting out his vision for change.

Speaking in Liverpool just days after the party delivered a seismic victory in last week’s by-election, he is expected to say that no SNP MP "can sit taking their communities for granted as so many have".It came on a day his deputy Jackie Baillie claimed her party had gone from having six target seats to 28.

With many in Scottish Labour now believing they can win a majority of seats in Scotland, Mr Sarwar will also suggest Humza Yousaf has failed to put the people of Scotland first.

He will say: “The result in Rutherglen and Hamilton West showed something I've long suspected, and that I imagine the SNP have long feared.

“The cracks in the foundations of the SNP are deeper and wider than they've ever recognised and while senior nationalists have lined up in TV studios to blame the voters - they have missed the point.

“Just like the Tories before them, they've made the mistake of thinking politics is a game.

"But I've got a message for them. Politics is about service - delivering for communities. It isn't about the same old constitutional fights and asking people to pay more for less. It isn't about failing to support our public services and trying to blame somebody else.

"Politics is about changing lives. It is about delivering a future where everyone can live up to their potential. It is about serving the people of Scotland. That is what the SNP have forgotten”

"It's that failure to stand up for Scotland, that failure to put country before party that has seen people turn their backs on them. Now no SNP MP can sit safely, taking their communities for granted as so many have.

"So I say to Humza Yousaf: this isn't about swings or the polls - this is about putting the people of Scotland first. And because you won't do that - we can beat you across Scotland.

"Every community in Scotland now has the chance to choose change with Scottish Labour."

It came as Scottish Labour deputy leader Ms Baillie told a Scottish Labour Friends of Scotland event she had a target list of 28 Westminster seats, but declined to answer if she’d be disappointed to win less than that at the next general election.

She said: “What we brought to Rutherglen and Hamilton and West, we will take to every seat in Scotland. We will fight it hard, we will take nothing for granted, and we will offer people hope.“I have a whole list of target seats, I have watch list seats, but you know the impact of Rutherglen and West Hamilton is still sinking through. But the one thing I can assure you, is that we will take absolutely nothing for granted.

"If I told you at the start of the year I started off with six target seats, let me tell you, we have now selected about 28 target seats”.

Labour’s shadow secretary for business and trade Jonathan Reynolds paid tribute to Ms Baillie at the fringe, and stressed how important visiting Scotland was to him.

He said: “Throughout my time in the shadow cabinet, I have never believed I could do my job unless I was regularly visiting Scotland, if I wasn’t understanding Scottish politics and crucially developing the close relationship we all need with our Scottish counterparts.

"That job has been made easier by some of the best in our party, and I include Jack Baillie in that”.

Elsewhere, Angela Rayner defied SNP accusations that the party would weaken its plans for workers rights and reaffirmed Labour’s commitment to bolstering them within 100 days of taking office.

The deputy party leader insisted that plans to boost protections for gig workers and enshrine basic employment rights from the first day of starting a job had not been watered down.

Media reports following Labour’s national policy forum this year had suggested the plans had been weakened.

She said: “Conference, I’ve heard some rumours that we’ll be watering down our New Deal For Working People.

“Be in no doubt – not with Keir and I at the helm.

“We’ll ban zero-hour contracts, and fire-and-rehire, and give workers basic rights from day one.

“We’ll go further and faster in closing the gender pay gap, make work more family-friendly, and tackle sexual harassment.

“And we won’t stop there. We’ll ensure that unions can stand up for their members. We will boost collective bargaining, to improve workers’ pay, terms and conditions.”

Monday will also see Rachel Reeves, the party’s shadow chancellor, accelerate the planning process for critical national infrastructure as part of plans to revive the sluggish economy.

She will use her speech to pledge that the party will overhaul the UK’s “antiquated planning system” in order to “get Britain building again”.

The changes would include updating all national policy statements, some of which have not been revised for over a decade, within the first six months of Labour entering office.

These would detail what types of projects the country needs while weaving considerations about economic growth and net zero into the planning system, according to Labour.

Planning applications would be fast-tracked for battery factories, laboratories and 5G infrastructure.

Labour would also tackle time-consuming litigation by setting clearer national guidance for developers on consulting local communities and provide a menu of potential incentives such as cheaper energy bills to help local communities welcome clean energy projects.

Ms Reeves is expected to say: “If we want to spur investment, restore economic security and revive growth, then we must get Britain building again.

“The Tories would have you believe we can’t build anything any more. In fact, the single biggest obstacle to building infrastructure, to investment and to growth in this country is the Conservative Party itself.

“If the Tories won’t build, if the Tories can’t build, then we will”.

Meanwhile, former Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy scored two goals in a losing performance as political journalists beat a team of MPs 4-3 at Liverpool’s training ground.